There is a large bibliography of secondary works concerning the Bayeux Tapestry, but when one reads much of the published material it is clear that a high proportion of this comment, as one would expect, copies and builds on previous authors.
Hungary’s Conversion to Christianity: The Establishment of Hungarian Statehood and its Consequences to the Thirteenth Century
September 1, 2014 By
The Carpathian Basin occupies a peculiar place in history. It was the ground where Roman-Germanic world met that of the Slavs and mounted nomad peoples, where no group had achieved sustained unity before the state of Hungary was founded.
Aelfgyva: The Mysterious Lady of the Bayeux Tapestry
August 24, 2014 By
One of the most intriguing of these puzzles centers upon a scene in that initial segment of the Tapestry treating with Earl Harold Godwinson’s famed and controversial visit to the court of the Norman duke
The Knight, the Hermit, and the Pope: Some Problematic Narratives of Early Crusading Piety
August 23, 2014 By
A much more general question, one that extends beyond the geographic confines of the Limousin and the period between 27 December 1095 and 15 August 1096 is why an individual choose to confront any of these difficulties at all. Why did they go?
Miracula, Saints’ Cults and Socio-Political Landscapes: Bobbio, Conques and post-Carolingian society
August 21, 2014 By
Despite the centrality of monastic sources to debates about social and political transformation in post-Carolingian Europe, few studies have approached the political and economic status of monasteries and their saints’ cults in this context, to which this thesis offers a comparative approach.
Signs of Power. Manorial Demesnes in Medieval Iceland
August 20, 2014 By
An important aspect of medieval Icelandic social organization, namely the manor, has been neglected in previous research, and very little research has been undertaken comparing Icelandic manorial organization with other regions. This article focuses on one aspect of manorial organization, namely the manorial demesne or central farm of the manor.
The Danish Conquest: 1000 Years
August 19, 2014 By
1013-1014 sees the 1000th anniversary of a successful invasion of England – and not many people seem to have noticed.
Women’s Devotional Bequests of Textiles in the Late Medieval English Parish Church, c.1350-1550
August 18, 2014 By
My investigation is set within the context of the current high level of interest in the workings of the late medieval parish.
Ten Things You May Not Have Noticed in the Bayeux Tapestry
August 12, 2014 By
The designer of the Bayeux Tapestry also included little details that might be missed by the casual viewer. Here are ten images to take a second look at!
Enemy and Ancestor: Viking Identities and Ethnic Boundaries in England and Normandy, c.950 – c.1015
August 12, 2014 By
This thesis is a comparison of ethnicity in Viking Age England and Normandy. It focuses on the period c.950-c.1015, which begins several generations after the initial Scandinavian settlements in both regions.
Herleva of Falaise, Mother of William the Conqueror
July 31, 2014 By
Legends states the young Duke Robert I of Normandy was on the walkway of his castle at Falaise looking down at the river and discovered a beautiful young girl washing clothes. He asked to see her and she became his mistress. She would become the mother of William the Conqueror.
Britain and the Beginning of Scotland
July 14, 2014 By
Until recently it was generally held that Scotland first began to take shape with a union of Picts and Scots under Cinaed mac Ailpín, who died in 858.
Could Duke Phillip the Good of Burgundy have owned the Bayeux tapestry in 1430?
July 7, 2014 By
An entry in the Inventory of the Bayeux cathedral treasury records that in 1476 the church owned the following: Item une tente tres longue et estroicte de telle a broderie d’ymages et escripteaulx, faisans representation du Conquest d’Angleterre, laquelle est tendu environ la nefde l’église le jour et par l’octave des reliques (l). Not until the 1720 ‘s did scholars first find and appreciate the potential importance of this brief entry.
Saints, Tradition and Monastic Identity: The Ghent Relics, 850-1100
July 7, 2014 By
The extraordinary story ofthe Ghent relics was first told by Oswald Holder- Egger in an article published in 1886. During his work on part two of volume 15 of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica Scriptores series, which Holder- Egger had just finished, he had come across the hagiographie literature produced at the abbeys of St Baafs and St Pieters in Ghent.
The Reordering of Society in Medieval Provence
July 7, 2014 By
“Here, some pray, others fight, still others work …” {}). “Since the beginning of time, mankind has been divided into three groups, men of prayer, farmers, and warriors” (2). Appearing between 1024 and 1031 in the writings of Adelbero, bishop of Laon, and his cousin Gerard, bishop of Cambrai, these two statements constitute the first fully developed expression of a tripartite, or more accurately a trifunctional conceptualization of European society.
A Feast for the Eyes: Representing Odo at the Banquet in the Bayeux Embroidery
July 6, 2014 By
This paper will therefore investigate Odo’s role in the banquet as a way to ask larger questions about how patronage has been portrayed in the literature on the Bayeux Embroidery as a whole.
Kingdom, emporium and town: the impact of Viking Dublin
June 24, 2014 By
In recent years the precise location and nature of Viking Dublin have been much debated. It is now generally accepted that there was a longphort phase from 841 to 902: a period of enforced exile from 902 to 917, and thereafter a dún phase.
Book Review: The Rhyme of King Harold
June 18, 2014 By
The Rhyme of King Harold is an entertaining way to learn more about the flip side of the Bayeux Tapestry and getting in touch with your Saxon roots.
CONFERENCES: Count Hugh of Troyes and the Crusading Nexus of Champagne
June 12, 2014 By
This is my summary of a paper given at the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London.
The Childhood of William the Conqueror
May 28, 2014 By
Duke Robert died when William was seven leaving him to rely on other men to rule his duchy until he came of age. These years were fraught with peril.
The 1066 Norwegian Invasion of England in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
May 24, 2014 By
The goal of this paper is to understand how the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle portrays the Norwegian Invasion of 1066 and how they characterize the Norwegians, particularly the figure of Haraldr Harðráði.
Monastic Space and the Use of Books in Anglo-Norman England
May 21, 2014 By
My summary of a paper given at the Institute of Historical Research on: Monastic Space and the Use of Books in Anglo-Norman England.
Chivalry, Feudalism, and Source Criticism: The Writing of Medieval German Military History
May 18, 2014 By
A paper from the 49th International Congress on Medieval Studies
Did the Vikings reach Madeira?
May 7, 2014 By
New research about mice on Madeira suggests that the Vikings may have visited the Atlantic island 400 years before it was colonized.
The Battle of Clontarf – then and now
April 25, 2014 By
HistoryHub and University College Dublin have teamed up to create two-part video series to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the Battle of Clontarf.
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